Tuesday newspaper round-up: Zipcar, BP, Volvo/Polestar

(Sharecast News) - As the battle lines harden amid Germany's intensifying pressure on the European Commission to scrap the 2035 ban on production of new petrol and diesel cars, two Swedish car companies, Volvo and Polestar, are leading the campaign to persuade Brussels to stick to the date. They argue such a move is a desperate attempt to paper over the cracks in the German car industry, adding that it will not just prolong take up of electric vehicles but inadvertently hand the advantage to China. - Guardian

Zipcar is closing down in the UK after a new congestion charge from Sir Sadiq Khan threatened to push up costs for drivers. On Monday, the car rental app said it would pull out of Britain by the end of the year amid a new charge for electric vehicles (EVs) driving into London's congestion zone as a well rising electricity costs. - Telegraph

BP has shelved plans to build a major hydrogen project in Teesside in a fresh blow to Ed Miliband's net zero plans. The oil giant withdrew its request to the Government on Monday to build the project after it clashed with separate plans backed by Sir Keir Starmer to construct the largest data centre in Europe. It comes after Downing Street selected a former steel site in Teesside as the home for its second AI Growth Zone, with Labour banking on the technology to help turbocharge the economy. - Telegraph

A businessman whose company was accused of selling bogus engine parts to the airline industry in a "significant and audacious fraud", leading to the temporary grounding of planes in 2023, faces up to a decade in prison after pleading guilty to fraudulent trading. Jose Alejandro Zamora Yrala, 37, admitted one charge of fraud in relation to operating AOG Technics for a fraudulent purpose by "falsifying documentation relating to the origin, provenance, status and/or condition of aircraft parts" between January 2019 and December 2023. - The Times